Just where does the Golden Glory World Series stand?

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A few weeks ago we reported on the line-up Golden Glory had released for their upcoming World Series of MMA and Kickboxing, featuring names like Errol Zimmerman, Gokhan Saki, Shinya Aoki, and Paul Daley.  There had been talk for a few months about this event, but the line-up came out of nowhere, and particularly on the MMA side was stacked with some names that sounded almost too good to be true. 

Well, they were.

Now Golden Glory has a new line-up released, and the MMA side has been hit pretty hard.  Confirmed for the event now are just 3 names: Siyar Bahadurzada, Roan Carneiro, and Tommy Depret.  Aoki?  Gone.  Daley?  Gone.  As are Marius Zaromskis, Nick Thompson, and Diego Gonzalez.

Over on the kickboxing side, 6 names remain: Zimmerman, Saki, Stefan Leko, Anderson "Braddock" Silva, Brice Guidon, and Mourad Bouzidi.  Both Ruslan Karaev and Ashwin Balrak have been removed.

They also scaled back the schedule.  Originally announced was a quarter final event in October, semi finals in February, and finals in April.  Now the are looking at just the quarter finals in October and then a one night semi-finals and finals event in February.

I said when this was announced that Aoki's inclusion in particular stuck out to me as a bit worrisome, and unfortunately, I was right.  Whether Golden Glory announced these names before the contracts were finalized, or whether they were forced to make changes for some other reason, this is a pretty big bait and switch.  It's early enough that it's not a huge deal, but it definitely is not the best way for the company to launch what they hope to be a major event, as now every announcement will be in question. 

Personally, I still think at least this October event will happen, and given Golden Glory's strong stable of kickboxers, I think it will have a solid line-up on the kickboxing side.  But at this point, I'm not going to hold my breath for the planned February finale, or much big name non-Golden Glory talent.

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United Glory, the promoting arm of Golden Glory gym, has announced details on their 2010 Ultimate Glory event, and it's going to be a big one.  Traditionally, this event is a joint kickboxing/MMA event to celebrate Golden Glory fighters.  This year they are making a break and adding a completely new format.

Starting October 16 in Amsterdam, they will host an event they are dubbing the "Kickboxing and MMA World Series".  There will be two separate 8-man tournaments, one for kickboxing and one for MMA, held over 3 events.  The quarter final rounds will take place at the October event; semi-finals in February in Belgium, and finals in April in The Netherlands.  The 8 participating fighters have been announced for the tournament, and they are:

Kickboxing:
Errol Zimmerman
Ruslan Karaev
Mourad Bouzidi
Gokhan Saki
Stefan Leko
Brice Guidon
Anderson "Braddock" Silva
Ashwin Balrak

Although you could point out the lack of a Hari, Schilt, or Bonjasky, I think this is actually a super competitive tournament with some great names.  You're looking at one top 5 fighter, one top 10, 3 more top 25, and the remaining 3 all just outside the rankings.  There's a lot of very intriguing match-ups here, especially because as the tournament progresses we'll almost have to see teammate v. teammate from Golden Glory.  The two tournament favorites have to be Zimmerman and Saki, which is a fight I would love to see.  Both men are close friends, but GG fighters have shown a willingness to fight in the past, and I can't imagine they would have signed on without knowing that was a real possibility.

On the MMA side:

Siyar Bahadurzada
Diego Gonzalez
Tommy Depret
Paul Daley
Roan Carneiro
Shinya Aoki
Nick Thompson
Marius Zaromskis

Pretty clearly one name jumps out here and that is Shinya Aoki.  This is a HUGE coup for Golden Glory to get his involvement.  Now let's just hope he actually does take part, as there is a small part of me that has concern over such a huge name being snuck in with no previous warning. 

The tournament will take place at Welterweight, which is the natural weight class for most of these fighters.  Of course, Aoki's last venture up to WW proved disastrous, so I am not sure what is motivating the step up again here.  But there are some fantastic match-ups to think about here - Zaromskis v. Daley would be great, as would Aoki v. Thompson.

If this card goes according to plan, this could be a major event.  It definitely has the potential to be a big moment in the history of not just Golden Glory, but MMA and kickboxing in Europe.

Artur Kyshenko will headline RISE 68 on July 31

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Japan's RISE promotion has announced the main event for their July 31 show, and it is a good one.  Headlining RISE 68 will be the #4 ranked Artur Kyshenko v. #12 Hinata.

Hinata made a name for himself in RISE, holding the company's 70kg title, before making the jump to K-1, so this will be a sort of homecoming for him.  But it's definitely a rough homecoming, as Kyshenko represents the toughest opponent Hinata has yet encountered.  Hinata's last fights were at the MAX Japan GP, where he turned in a career-best performance in his quarter final defeat of former Final 4 fighter Yuya Yamamoto, before being KO'd in the semi-finals by Hiroki Nakajima.  Prior to that, the 24 year old had gone 2-1 in K-1, with wins over Yasuhiro Kido and Mike Zambidis, and a loss to Dzhabar Askerov.

Kyshenko has been sitting on the verge of at the very pinnacle of MAX for the past few years.  He comes in on a four fight win streak, including an exciting win over Murat Direkci for It's Showtime in his last outing.  He should have a significant size and strength advantage here, and has to be considered the heavy favorite over his less experienced opponent.

Koshien champion Masaaki Noiri will headline the next Krush event.

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The non-K-1 side of the Japanese kickboxing scene has received a bit of a boost in attention lately thanks to the K-1 63kg Grand Prix and their emphasis on fighters from Krush and RISE.  Both organizations look to capitalize on that interest with some exciting upcoming cards.

First up, RISE will present RISE 65 on May 16.  The main event is a good fight between Su Hwan Lee and Yukihiro Komiya.  Lee has been quietly moving up the rankings ever since his impressive, KO-heavy performance at last year's MAX Korea GP Qualifier.  There, he made it to the finals before losing to top Korean fighter Chi Bin Lim.  Lee has since returned to K-1 in a loss to Yasuhiro Kido, before bouncing back with wins over Xu Yan (at The Khan 2) and Kenji Kanai (at a Shootboxing event).  A win here would very likely earn Lee another K-1 opportunity.  Also at RISE 65: Oh Doo Suk v. Yusuke Sugawara in a 65kg fight. 

RISE also announced some rule changes to mirror K-1.  They've taken the new K-1 rule limiting strikes in the clinch, as well as added new weight classes at 57.5, 63, and 67.5kg.

Krush also revealed some details about their next event.  Scheduled for June 12 is their latest Next Generation Fight 2010 event.  The main event for that show is partially announced, as 2009 Koshien champion Masaaki Noiri faces an opponent yet to be determined.  The 16 year old Noiri made his K-1 debut last year, going 4-0 in the Koshien tournament and defeating Koshien ace Hiroya en route to a championship win over Shota Shimada.  Despite these wins, Noiri was left out of the K-1 63kg GP, perhaps due to his age, and perhaps due to K-1's history of not keeping around those who defeat Hiroya (see also Yudai, who defeated Hiroya to win the 2007 Koshien title and was never seen in K-1 again).  Since the Koshien win, Noiri has had one fight, a TKO victory at Krush.6.  Nothing else yet set for this Krush show.

via img40.imageshack.us

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Buakaw Por. Pramuk has been silent since his controversial loss to Andy Souwer last October, but finally, the #3 ranked fighter is scheduled to return to action.  On May 29, Buakaw will face British fighter Jordan Watson under full Muay Thai rules.  The fight is presented by MSA Muay Thai Premier League, and will take place in London. 

While it would be nice to know where Buakaw stands with K-1, any chance to see Buakaw back in action is much appreciated.  This fight will be particularly exciting as Buakaw does not often have the chance to fight under Muay Thai rules. With K-1 further limiting Buakaw's use of knees in the clinch, fans should enjoy the chance to see one of Muay Thai's best fighting in his true style.

Also on the card, British fighter Tim Thomas faces an opponent yet to be officially named, but likely to be Thai MMA fighter and kickboxer Malaipet Sitpraprom.

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Krush hold their Krush×Survivor show this Saturday at Korakuen Hall in cooperation with FEG. Krush looks to be the place where FEG is developing new talent for K-1, perfect for their new 63kg weight class.

WPKC World Muay Thai Ligthweight champion Haruaki Otsuki will face J-Network Lightweight champion Akihiro Kuroda in the main event. Otsuki's had a few fights up in K-1, going 2-0 with wins over David Douge and Ryuji Kajiwara back in 2008. He's also the winner of the All Japan Lightweight the Strongest Tournament Champion '03. His opponent will be the reigning J-Network Lightweight champion Akihiro Kuroda.

RISE 55kg champion Nobuchika Terado will meet former New Japan Kickboxing Federation Flyweight champ KENJI. Another top match will see the #1 ranked J-Network Lightweight Junpei Aotsu face off against the 60kg Krush GP2009 runner-up Yuta Kubo.

Other notable fighters in action include Keiji Ozaki, who finished third in the K-1 World MAX 2007 Japan tournament going up against YOSHI and 2006 All-Japan Karate Lightweight Champion Takuya Shirahama meets Syunsuke Ohishi, the #1 ranked J-Network Super Lightweight. The K-1 Koshien 2009 runner-up Shota Shimada faces off against GMC/Pancrase mixed-martial-artist Daisuke Endo and the K-1 KOSHIEN 2008 third place finisher Ryuya Kusakabe will be in action against 60gk All-Japan Karate champion Shota Takiya.

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Andre Mannaart (right) in action

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Here's one for the true die-hard old school kickboxing fans: Dutch organization Fight 058 has announced that their next card will be headlined by the return to in-ring competition of Andre Mannaart as he faces fellow legend Jan Lomulder.  The event will take place June 26, and is Fight 058's second ever show.

Modern fans may know the 49-year old Mannaart as one of the top trainers in the European kickboxing scene.  Working out of Mejiro Gym in Amsterdam, Mannaart has trained a number of major champions including Remy Bonjasky and Andy Souwer.  As a fighter, Mannaart was involved in some of the earliest K-1 shows, including an appearance at the 1994 K-1 Grand Prix where he was KO'd by defending champion Branko Cikatic.  His last high profile fight was a victory in K-1 over Mitsuya Nagai in 1999, but even at that time he was essentially retired.  As modern combat sports developed, Mannaart also tried his hand at MMA, going 0-3-1 including loses to Enson Inoue and Kiyoshi Tamura.  An undeniable legend in the modern European kickboxing scene, Mannaart is truly a name every kickboxing fan should know.

His opponent is the 42 year old Jan Lomulder, another early name in the modern kickboxing citcuit.  As a part of Thom Harinck's famed Chakuriki Gym, Lomulder also had an early K-1 appearance, losing to Adam Watt back in 1993.  Perhaps his most notable fight came in MMA as Lomulder took part in the 1994 Vale Tudo Japan tournament, defeating Kenji Kawaguchi via vicious soccer kick before dropping out due to a broken hand. 

Interestingly, this is actually a rematch between these two.  Mannaart and Lomulder first met back in 1995 with Lomulder winning a five round decision.  That fight is available in it's entirety on YouTube - click here for part 1.

While some may look at this as an irrelevant fight between two men who should be out of the ring, I see it as a great opportunity to see two true pioneers of modern kickboxing competing against each other one last time.  I know there are many fans who will eagerly look forward to this, and I can't wait to enjoy seeing these men fight.

Gokhan "The Rebel" Saki via www.goldenglory.com

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This coming Saturday, February 27, KickboxTV presents an Thai Boxe event headlined by K-1 star Gokhan Saki as he faces Dutch Muay Thai stylist Utley Meriana.  The event comes from Schiedam in The Netherlands, and will be streaming live at www.kickboxtv.nl.

This will be Saki's second relatively low profile fight in a row, as his last outing was a win over Dennis Stolzenbach at a smaller show in The Netherlands.  I'd say these kind of fights are perfect for Saki right now.  After a huge breakout year in 2008, Saki hit some roadblocks in 2009, first in an upset loss to Kyotaro, followed by an injury against Pavel Zhuravlev that put him on the sidelines for a number of months.  His return fight was a loss to Peter Aerts before getting back in the win column against Stolzenbach.  From the Aerts fight it seemed clear Saki needed a bit more time to get over the injury and shake off the ring rust - fights where he can get back to his top form away from the high profile of a major K-1 event are the perfect place to do so.

His opponent is Utley "The Easy Killer" Meriana, a Dutch fighter out of the Silent Dragon camp.  Like Saki, Meriana typically fights around 95 kg.  Largely unknown outside of the Netherlands, Meriana is a decently well-regarded fighter, though he is facing a big step up in competition here.  For more on Meriana, check out one of his fights on YouTube here.